Gun owners attending the National Rifle Association's Annual Meetings (NRAAM) in Dallas, Texas were swarming over a restaurant in the area that decided to take a stand against firearms.
Ellen's changed the bottom of their receipt to reflect their support for gun control, saying any proceeds from the week would go toward gun control groups.
The NRA eventually received wind of the maneuver and warned NRAAM participants to avoid spending their money at the establishment.
Attn @AnnualMeetings attendees. Steer clear of Ellen’s in downtown Dallas! Why go there when there are so many other great choices. ??#sorrynotsorry #StandAndFight #DefendTheSecond pic.twitter.com/joX7pPoPm4
— NRA (@NRA) May 5, 2018
The restaurant quickly decided to "clarify" their message with the following Instagram post:
What a day this has been! We want to give some clarification to an issue that has caused quite a bit of confusion and anxiety.
Early this morning, we began posting a message on the bottom of our receipts stating that Ellen's intends to donate a portion of our proceeds this week toward the efforts of finding common ground and compromise in the fight to eliminate needless gun violence, especially in our schools and against our dedicated police officers.
With a limited number of characters available for that message, we simplified it to say we support "reasonable and effective gun regulations" toward that end.
What was not expected was that those two words -- reasonable and effective -- would be misinterpreted as our support for gun control. The mistake was an honest one. The opposite is true.
We support the Constitution, including the 2nd Amendment, 100%. And like the NRA, we also support finding solutions to the senseless killings that happen much too frequently. We believe those two things are completely compatible.
After a very courteous and informative conversation with a customer, we realized how our message could be misconstrued and we moved quickly to clarify. By then, the situation had become viral.
We believe our position is anything but controversial. Rather, it is the American way of dealing with problems. Historically, every time we have had a big challenge, we have come together -- Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, and Liberals -- and put our collective brain power and dedication to the task.
No one wants children to die in their classrooms. No one wants police to be killed in the line of duty. The differences we have are in our approach. But we can fix it if we breathe, calm down, and listen to one another. As Americans, that's what we are supposed to do.
People quickly chimed in on Ellen's backpedaling.
If Ellen's didn't want controversy, they wouldn't have said anything about guns or the Second Amendment.
If the restaurant owners told the public who they were donating the money to then that would solidify gun owners suspicions.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member